Between Surface and Substance

The article was concerned with form and materiality as a superficial condition and tectonic substantiation. The superficial is concerned with styles of architecture such as neoclassical, or gothic. Tectonic substantiation refers to a material being true to its form or structural capabilities such as a fabric being in tension and expressing its capabilities.

Mark Burry discussed the notion that educating architects to conform to any particular style reduces the art of composition and narrows the encyclopedia of potential knowledge. The study of digital models is a context in which materiality and structural capabilities become irrelevant. The style based designs of architectural history is being questioned and architects should seek solutions beyond superficial qualities of form. Mathematics can be seen as the bridge between formal qualities in art and architecture.

Gaudi and the Sagrada Nave Roof: The roof form was generated using mathematically predictable parabolas which allow for the simplicity of the design to appear as a complex second order. Exterior and interior must be treated as a different condition so neither side can express true geometries.

Paramorphs: Parametric design as a collaborative tool. Paramorphs are forms that have consistent topology but unstable topography. Projects have revealed interesting cyber-real implications from the interior to exterior paramorphs. As physical mockups the self -intersections proved to fail as interesting as they were as digital mockups.

Non Euclidean Perplications: talks about cross foldings between complex repetitions. It is the visualization of concurrent ideas that appear to be the same yet different at the same time. As ideas mature over time, they can be re-represented as "snapshots" that develop a theme. Our thoughts are not always linear, but rather ones that form a landscape of turmoil where subconscious and conscious desires and ideals interweave

NonEuclidean Hyposurface: The use of technology to design a wall. Surfaces that act as a living nervous system in a sense that they move and react to a stimulator. Surfaces can be skins that experience a variety of conditions that range from flexed, tautness, bent, curved or folded.